SolidSnake wrote:I'm sorry I'm not trying to make you out to be some Blackhawks fanboy or anything. That interferes at times with me. I just never liked the Hawks ever let alone now. With players like Carcillo, (I like to beat up taxi drivers or whatever he did) Kane, (Generic Crosby) Toews, and a crappy goaltending tandem (especially with one of them being Emery and I never liked him with Ottawa or Philly) that is somehow holding together. The fact the Blackhawks ended up lucking out being in the cup finals against Michael Leighton ( talk about lucking out ). I never liked Roenick or Chelios when they played for the Hawks either. It's just for some reason they annoy the hell out of me. Not to mention their goal song. Only person I even like is Q.

Ya think I like them? I don't like them. I recognize and respect good hockey. They have a 1B goalie and a fringe NHLer in net, and they're both killing it because the team that would shoot on them isn't allowed to touch the puck. It speaks volumes about what they're doing. Ray Emery - a goalie with no lateral movement - has a sub-2 GAA...that's a total joke. I don't like them one bit...but I'm not about to just start making stuff up about them to try to knock them down...I mean, they're getting hassled for beating Edmonton in Edmonton 3-1 right now...I mean, what is that?

They're good, they're as good as their record shows, but they aren't peerless. They aren't likely to go globetrotters on anyone of value in the West. If they get matched against St. Louis or Los Angeles, they could be taken right out and I wouldn't be shocked. On the flip side, they would probably dance all over Minnesota's face unless Suter-Brodin can play 60 minutes a night...

But when you get into a 7 game series with a team, you really get your advanced scouting claws sharpened...you have a good team concept, but iffy goaltending. Look at Boston in 2011, good team concept, iffy goaltending. Notice how often Thomas put his team in grave peril in those playoffs (nearly single-handedly lost the Montreal series, put his team behind the 8-ball midway through the Tampa series, put the Bruins down in the Canucks series with outlandish gaffes). Compare to 2012, the Kings with a good team concept and very good goaltending and no series was ever in doubt ever, at any point, at all, ever...Kings steamrolled to the Cup because there was no weak point.

A team that can slow them down and do some video work on their goaltenders can beat them...

Good post mikey. If Emery is out for any significant time then that'll make things really interesting. Seems like Stan Bowman took a page from the 2008, 2009 Red Wings where they depended on average goaltending (Osgood) and in this case (Crawford)

The Blackhawks were able to sleepwalk through the Minnesota series without lifting a finger (also got a gift by having the starting goalie get hurt) but now they have a moderate task to handle and they just haven't flipped the switch to "on" and they're running out of time clearly...I probably saw about half of their regular season games this year, they were interesting to watch and there was so much more effort and control in the regular season than I've seen so far in the playoffs.

The Red Wings are doing a good job of preventing the Blackhawks from getting going and Howard is quickly sneaking on to the Conn Smythe radar, but the Blackhawks never looked this out of sorts all season long.

When Joel Quenneville goes against the Red Wings in the playoffs, he has a bad time...

I thought Chicago's problem would be their below-average goalies. Crawford has been fine though. It's the offense that is letting them down.

Detroit is not your typical 7 seed. They weren't that great this year, but they still have several players that have been winners in the past and know how to get it done along with some young players growing into it.

This is why it is so difficult to win a Cup. The season records don't mean a thing. It's who gets hot or cold, and who doesn't flinch in the playoffs.

I have a friend who's a Blackhawks fan who likes to try to get a rise out of me by calling Sid a whiner and a diver. I can't WAIT until the next time she does it because I'm going to rip her apart about Toews's whining and ******** from this series!

mikey287 wrote:The Blackhawks were able to sleepwalk through the Minnesota series without lifting a finger (also got a gift by having the starting goalie get hurt) but now they have a moderate task to handle and they just haven't flipped the switch to "on" and they're running out of time clearly...I probably saw about half of their regular season games this year, they were interesting to watch and there was so much more effort and control in the regular season than I've seen so far in the playoffs.

The Red Wings are doing a good job of preventing the Blackhawks from getting going and Howard is quickly sneaking on to the Conn Smythe radar, but the Blackhawks never looked this out of sorts all season long.

When Joel Quenneville goes against the Red Wings in the playoffs, he has a bad time...

To be honest, this is why I've got no qualms about seeing the Pens struggle against the Islanders for a couple games, or fall asleep against the Sens at the end of Game 3. Teams have to go through adversity. It gets them into playoff form, where it's all about the battle and the will to triumph.

What's amazing about Detroit is that that organization has that playoff mentality in their DNA, pretty much ever since Yzerman won his first cup. They were going to be a hard out no matter what. Now the Blackhawks are faced with as tough a task as there is. I think they could do it. This could be their aha moment, where they wake up to the battle in front of them. But I'd say they've got about a 25% chance of winning 3 in a row against that team.

The thing is that I can also see the Hawks winning 3 straight from Detroit. It likely won't happen, but they are certainly capable and if they suddenly get hot, Detroit will be in a very difficult position in trying to contain them because the Hawks have the talent and ability to suddenly erupt and dominate Detroit. That sounds like previous failed playoff teams known as "Penguins" also, but I don't think this series is going to end this weekend.

Also lost in all this: how well Jimmy Howard is playing. He's been just terrific, especially in this series. Last night was the first time this season the Blackhawks have been shutout, right? They've scored 2 goals in 3 games. Over the course of the season, they would average 10 goals over that same stretch of time.

mikey287 wrote:Also lost in all this: how well Jimmy Howard is playing. He's been just terrific, especially in this series. Last night was the first time this season the Blackhawks have been shutout, right? They've scored 2 goals in 3 games. Over the course of the season, they would average 10 goals over that same stretch of time.

He's playing well no doubt, but the Hawks are clearly out of sorts/flummoxed and have botched several good chances. E.g., that 2-on-1 late last night when JT just handed it back to the defenseman.

Yeah, they're not playing to their potential. And Howard is doing a good job of preventing them from getting anything going. It's not about the saves you make, it's about the goals you give up and the timing and quality of them. Howard has been terrific, in my opinion. But the Blackhawks better start pushing some buttons here and get this thing moving. It's not Corey Crawford holding them back as I expected he might, this is just Coach Q getting out-coached and the team itself following its leader down the drain here...

I'm surprised it's unfolding like this, very surprised. I could imagine something going wrong for Chicago, despite how good they are, but I didn't think it would go down like this...that's the playoffs for you...